Verbs of Motion in Russian (Идти – ехать)
A special place in the Russian verb system is occupied by the verbs of motion, i.e. verbs that define the same action with two different imperfective verbs.
Verbs to идти and ходить signify the same action – “to move, going on foot”, but the verb идти represents a movement that takes place in one direction, and the verb ходить represents a movement in two directions (there and back), or repeated movement.
The same thing happens with verbs ехать — ездить. They both mean “to go by a means of transport, e.g. by car”, but the verb ехать represents a movement in one direction and the verb ездить in two directions, or repeated movement.
Are you confused? Watch this video and everything will be clear 🙂
By the way, there are 17 pairs of motion verbs. They are:
бежать — бегать, ехать — ездить, идти — ходить, лететь — летать, плыть — плавать, тащить — таскать, катить — катать, катиться — кататься, нести — носить, нестись — носиться, вести — водить, везти — возить, ползти — ползать, лезть — лазить, брести — бродить, гнать — гонять, гнаться — гоняться.
If you would like to further improve your knowledge, check this whole section about these verbs. There are a lot of interesting videos about this topic. And here is the playlist on Youtube.
